The Dragon and The Castle
by KiraCaseAgent
Summary: There's two things that dragons do best: protect their treasure, and protect their castle. There's a bit too much going on with quadrants lately; and Terezi's situation may be the worst. Will the dragon make sure that her prince stays appeased among his treasure, or will she quit along the way? (I'm going to continue this. Rated M in general; smut starts in 2nd chapter.)
1. Standing Guard

_ Isn't it everything you wanted? To be left alone, Karkat? In solitude and in thinking – wasn't that your goal all along? Now, why do we wait at the feet of the ones we know we cannot have? Why do we wait, so eager, to have our hearts broken? It's because we're all naïve. They belong to someone else, and you know this. You blame yourself for falling in love. It's no one's fault but your own. You've put yourself in such a situation. Everything in life… it isn't easy. Love is one of those trials that you can never overcome, no matter how far you go. Though, many long for it. You can't simply replace the person you would do so much for. It's a trap._

Karkat's snores echoed the congested room. When he turned, tiny honks from the horns were sounded – however, not enough to wake him up. Occasionally he would mutter small grunts or inane words, talking about the past, mostly. With a somehow-managed graceful frown, Terezi listened to all of the movements and sounds. This was the only indication of his thoughts as he was asleep, so she might as well try to decode them. This wasn't all she did, though. She was his protector. If anyone tried to disrupt his sleep, she would deter them from the area. Sometimes she was caught humming, Gamzee following the song as the noises moved through the vent. He would try to throw her off of the beat, but she never lost track.

Terezi sat with her dragon suit wrapped completely around her. It was fairly cold, especially when sitting on the metallic floor. "Hey," Karkat sighed in his sleep. He was in another memory, probably. His eyes were shut tight, as if he had to keep something out. Even though he wasn't conscious enough to understand, she responded with a lowly performed greeting, "Hello..." He smiled, but of course, Pyrope couldn't notice. Her heart ached once more, and she had nestled herself deeper within the red fabric. She wondered what he was dreaming about. He was asleep for quite a while; two days, almost.

She waited days by his side. She only accepted food and drink; taking the occasional nap by leaning on the pile. Of course, however, there were the visits by Gamzee Makara when he peeked through the vent's opening. Whenever he appeared, Terezi's heart jumped. Not only with familiarities attached to his scars, but utter fear of Karkat's wake. If he ever knew that they were kismesis… let's just say that it would be bad. Despite this, the purple-blood liked to play risk-taking games. She supposed it made things more interesting, but it was also very dangerous – needless to say.

One of Gamzee's showings was eminent, she realized, but she never thought that it would be at this moment. His face was shadowed before hopping clumsily out of the shaft. He approached her without hesitance, and dragged his feet loudly just to tick her off. She tried to steer him out the door, resorting to pushing on his chest with her shoulder and arm. He was unmoving. "Gamzee! Get out!" she whispered rigidly, reaching for her cane that she had laid on the floor.

"Come on, sis."

"I told you not to be loud around Karkat!"

"He's going to find out anyway."

Upon his previous statement, he laughed and watched as Terezi searched for her weapon that substituted for a guide. "Do you want to help, clown?" she growled lowly, sweeping her robe across the tiles in hopes that the item would get caught on it. She knew that he was possibly the worst source of assistance in this whole atmosphere, but she had no choice. At this point, she was thinking of just giving up – she could smell around well enough.

Little did she know, he was wielding the small cane. Compared to Gamzee, Pyrope seemed like a midget. Though not quite to that extent however, she was tall enough to make it to the base of his neck, excluding her horns. He was amused by her bliss and quiet tones. She didn't cease to hold fast to Karkat's sleep. She hushed her kismesis' every action. Soon, the Capricorn had gotten frustrated with the repeated instructions. It was understandable – seeing as she would sometimes hit him if he didn't comply.

Amid these emotions, he sneered. Taking the cane, he prodded his target with it; jabbing her obnoxiously in the ribcage. "Ow! Damn, that hurts! Give me my weapon!" she raged. Every subject that ran through her mind was spoken as she waved her arms through the air, trying to find it for herself. It wasn't a very wise move. Gamzee had shoved her against the wall, pressing the cane to Terezi's neck. Her hands gripped the two ends of the item, attempting to push it off, but to no avail. "Your turn," he whispered, to her relief. He then proceeded to lick her neck from base up in mock to her sight.


	2. Fighting Urges

"You're an idiot!" she huffed, faltering. Her breath was escaping as the cane pressed tighter, and she didn't anticipate what was going to happen next. Gamzee had already given many signals of his intentions, and the very thought resorted her to squirming underneath the weapon, trying to get away. It was apparent, however, that Gamzee's strength was more exuberant than her own. She even started hissing as if she were an actual reptilian predator. It was kind of a funny sight from a 3rd person's point of view. "Get off!" she repeated for the ninth time now. He simply shook his head, enjoying the unsuppressed anger from his kismesis. You know, if she wasn't caged between the wall and him.

After a while, he laughed, "So, are you ready now?" They both caught his drift very clearly, and he didn't even wait for an answer. He snatched her by the hair and pulled her to the ground, while still holding the cane to her neck. There came a loud 'thump' upon hitting the floor, and Terezi's mind had shook for a bit before realizing what was happening. There was now a sharp pain in the back of her head, along with a sore spine, and her breath was limited to Gamzee's control. It wasn't a very pleasant situation for her. Though, she was more reactant to the fact that her loud fall made Karkat stir a bit in his sleep. Immediately, she knew the card that Gamzee was going to play. Shit.

Instead of pre-pail kisses, he started to pull harshly on the skin of Terezi's neck, causing bloodshed and bruises. Wonderful, more 'hickeys' to hide under her dragon suit. She tried to prop herself up with all of her might – though, as expected, she was bested. "Karkat is going to wake up. We can't do this here." she whispered, making tiny grunts as small amounts of teal blood dripped to the floor. He didn't reply. Moreover, he eased the cane off of her, still sitting on her torso. He proceeded to unbutton the connecting straps on her jacket. She squirmed and spat some more profanities at him, as if it made a difference. Supposing her suit made for a less rigid movement, he seems to have given her a very small advantage.

Quickly, her shirt was no more – as it was fairly easy to pull over. Her horns weren't a factor, thankfully. If they were longer, she could be jabbing out his eyes. But she still tried. The bra was unhooked and thrown elsewhere. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, and that was just how he liked it. As a present, he gave her a smile and a kiss on the cheek – to distract her from his hands, which were already working on getting her pants off. "No!" she disapproved, wriggling underneath him, and out of her clothes. Under pressure, she didn't do very well.

It wasn't a surprise that she was cold. She was totally naked on the aforementioned metallic floor. Her pulse calmed down a short time after her panic upon Gamzee's matching nudity. He allowed her a time to regain herself, but didn't let her go. Since she was more peaceful, he might as well begin now. He didn't like foreplay at all, so he just got to it, and inserted himself into her – without any predestined warning. She had a natural loss of sense, so this startled her. Her immediate reaction was to bite her lip in pain, and growled lowly, embarrassed. If it wasn't humiliating enough that she was being forcefully dominated by a clown… "You can't do this," She pushed at his shoulders with her freed arms, and again, it was useless. "I certainly can." he affirmed. He shoved himself harder, in a sudden and unexpected movement. At the beginning, he was being mechanical, just for the sake of freaking her out. He succeeded.

He grinded his hips against hers as a start; he went slow, but kept speeding up his tempo. Besides being utterly opposed to the available consequences, Terezi almost seemed to be enjoying herself. She was purring. Gamzee's grunts mixed with his small laughter, and began to claw her back when she started to pull away. To retaliate, he went faster, and pressed harder. It didn't take long before she couldn't handle it. "A-ah, Ga-!" she moaned, quickly covering her mouth when she heard Karkat turn in the background. With her reaction being held back, she moved into tears to make up for it. It was a beautiful sight to her black-partner. "Stop it…" she whined, simply lying her head back against the floor in defeat. She heaved a large sigh with relief once he was considerate enough to stop. She had came, it was obvious. But Gamzee refused this to be over. "I'll be back tomorrow. I'll make sure not to wake him up." He smirked condescendingly, and exited through the vent.

Terezi, after reviving, had searched around to find her clothes. Her dragon suit was easy to find, as it was right under her, but damn. Gamzee throws too far.

_(Author's note: Yeah, I know this one sucked – but I wrote this at about 12 AM while practically night-drunk, so work with me here.)_


	3. Brooding Charges

It was getting harder to keep Karkat's sleep in a stalemate. Despite many sloppily-made notes stating blatantly, "DO NOT 3NT3R" in bright red marker, people continued to intrude. These times didn't include only food and drink, oh no.

"Hello, Terezi. I hate to bother you, but do you know where Rose is?"

"Hey. Hey, Terezi. Hey. Listen to my rap."

"Honk."

This was repetitive and annoying. Her once wise responses have dissolved to a grunt and a finger pointing to the arch exit. When they still refused to move, she said clearly, "Go." Her voice, as the days went by, has grown into an unpleasant complaint within itself. It was groggy and tired. After what she had just done with Gamzee, she had felt overwhelming guilt - which is probably what her black-partner had wanted. More bruises were to be hidden, come the time when Karkat actually does awake.

Granted, it was getting quite boring sitting alone in a room. Well, not really alone, but not with anyone conscious. She would catch herself directing her snout the wrong way (toward the wall, for example) and think about her incompetence. Self-esteem levels lowering with every mistake. Ferocious dragons would brood their charges, instinctively refusing any entry from outsiders. Terezi supposed that she wasn't really good at being a stern, scaly reptile. Whether she was agreeable to the ideal or not is left unknown.

She started to think hard about her dancestor while alone. The horns that had created the noisy pile imitated valuable treasure - rubies, diamonds, gold; items that dragons build their nests with, as well as griffins. While a griffin is known as a creature symbolizing wisdom, the sun, strength, and salvation - the dragon is known for its greedy, havoc-ensuing, and savage nature, often banning them to deep caverns, caves, or dark groves in ancient tales told of the beasts. The historic background behind the two were completely different. Griffins were given gifts, praises, the ability to inhabit a royal person's domain if they wish. Dragons were given a bad name, flames to their solitary confinement, and, in the best of situations, a hillside to live in. It was as if it surprised folklore tales-men that the hazardous beings had presented such a rash attitude. On the new subject of egg differences, it takes a griffin's spawn five days to reach maturity and hatch (1 out of 5 the creatures are males). Though, depending on the element of the dragon, their eggs can take three-hundred to five-hundred years to burst. Dragons are rare, while griffins are common. However, they're more valued due to the fact that they bring only good fortune and the feeling of faith. Let's compare. Latula is the griffin. Terezi is the dragon.

**[A SEPARATE STORY: ****THE DRAGON AND THE GRIFFIN****]**

The dragon remains in her grove. The night has thrown a dark veil onto the sky, endangering small animals to the natural nocturnal eye of the beast. There were no stone walls to hide her, and her footprints left quite an indention upon the earth - creating a loud thud with each step. The animals scurried in their trees, bushes, dens, and shelters once they had heard the gargantuan roar of their predator. The she-dragon hissed at their cowardly actions, hungry and frustrated. The creature hadn't eaten in weeks, as there was simply nothing to consume. Natural selection just wasn't fair. She didn't ask to be born a disgrace. Despite her inner arguments, she padded over to the jewels placed neatly into a giant triangle pile. She was close to making ten-thousand gems sit in this assortment. Her whole life was based around the idea of, "Find a jewel. Put the jewel in a batch. Protect the jewels. Collect more." That was all of her existence's purpose. Maybe, the dragon thought, I could steal something of value from one of the royals! I will hold it as a hostage for the rest of my life!

It's what she aimed to do the next morning. She awoke at four, confused for a moment by the darkness that stayed. Her wings took her to the kingdom that she had neighbored for years - the one that so rudely placed her in such a dreary land with forceful pitchforks and torches. The biggest building caught her eye. It was obviously the king's. Sleepily, the villagers ignored the changing wind currents in their slumber. Not so much later, as the dragon's tail swept over a tower, crumbling its roof and foundations. A frightened royal stared up at her, sure to run as quick as possible to the other side of his circular room. With the tip of her yellow-white clawed forefinger and thumb, the dragon carried away the prince.

"What do you want with me?" the royal would scream, falling out of shock when he was placed at the top of the pile. With the inability to speak, the dragon ignored his loud English.

Of course, the king was angered horribly. "I want warriors mounting griffins to defeat this despicable beast!"

* * *

Little to say, dragons aren't treated equally.


	4. Flushed for You

Well, you really fucked up. You just _knew _this was going to happen sooner or later. Terezi tried to evade the room before he even had a chance to open his eyes. He grunted and turned, stretching out his arms – a tale-tell sign of his awakening. Even so, she wasn't going to just run out into the hallway of witnesses. With very little time at her disposal, the blind girl attempted at climbing through the vent shaft. Air currents drifted in the opposite direction of it, so finding the exit wasn't difficult. The hard part, rather, was locating the handle that would open her escape.

"Terezi?" Karkat muttered in confusion as he sat up, rubbing his native yellow-black eyes. He wasn't sure how long he was asleep (to him, it only felt like a night or so). Terezi gave up on the vent and walked back over to the horn pile with no change of her sad decorum. The last memory Karkat had of her, in fact, was by her tree-house. To see her mood unchanged was very discerning. He was coaxed to stand.

"Are you still-?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry,"

"You have nothing to be sorry of."

"Everything, really." He shifted his stature, hand on his arm.

"Karkat, I'm not kidding."

"Neither am I."

She had no idea what he was going on about. Of all people, _he_ shouldn't feel bad. Despite, he kept talking. "I remember when we didn't even meet these dancestors. I truly fucked up with you." Terezi pulled her hood's snout down further to cover more of her face. "I told you things that I wouldn't tell my worst enemy, and I don't know why that is. I've always liked you, and this stupid, aggressive nature of mine royally fucked _everything_ up – and that's not an excuse. You would've been happier with Dave than with me, anyway. So, I'll say it again. I'm sorry. What I did was inexcusable." All Terezi did to regard this was lower her posture into a relaxed and concerned pose, "You're just tired, Karkat… You don't know what you're saying." She placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to escort him outside the room. He stayed firm in his place. "I know what I'm saying."

They shared an awkward silence for a bit. "That thing you said," Terezi started, "about me being happier with Dave. What did that even mean?" It was out of conjunction to the main point of the conversation, but she was curious. "You two share multiple common interests. Us? We barely share any." They stood in the quiet for a while again. Terezi played with her fingers, clicking her nails together in time with her thoughts – tapping at a rapid beat. "That's what makes it fun, you know." she reasoned. This caused Karkat's solemn look to transform into one of a more sentimental caliber. How many sweeps did he spend with this troll without knowing this obvious answer? "I would be glad to have either of you. You're both very special guys," she pulled her hood down with a smile that Karkat waited so long to see again, "and as my scourge sister used to say – which one is it? Advance or abscond, Vantas?"

Dumbfounded and still surprised at her face's showing, he had panicked, "What do you mean by that?" She took hold of his wrists and gave him a light kiss, one he never expected to get again. She pulled back with the same smile as before, "I missed you."

Karkat's heartbeat quickened and his nails dug into his palms with nervous notation. "I missed you too," he said, staring into the red eyes of one who couldn't see his sincere expression. The beat of his heart, quickened before, had dropped and his fingers loosened. His smile quivered, trying to repress his colored tears from appearing. Being a mutant blood, if he were to be caught crying, he could be immediately executed. Nonetheless, he hugged her tightly and buried his reddened face in her shoulder. Sure, his eye opened once or twice to check the skies for imperial drones, but the moment was still and limitless. "I'm overstepping boundaries here, but can I be in your red quadrant?" he inquired, a shake in his terrified voice. Knowing that Dave was already in her chart, he crossed his fingers. _As if she would abandon him–_ "Sure."

He wiped his tears as he raised his head. The remnants of the liquid left behind will take a minute or two more to soak back into his skin.

"So you weren't lying?"

_God, do I really sound that insufferable? I'm a wriggler._

"Did you think I was?"

"No; I just think it's too good to be true."

"Flushed for you," she replied.

"Flushed for you too."

They shared another kiss, this time more passionate than the last. They nipped at each other's skin and were enveloped by nirvana.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private? You know, like… someplace not right in front of an entry-way?"


End file.
